Yucatan

This is attempt to bring the blog up to date as it has somewhat fallen behind events.

Not surprisingly the fever did not go away by ignoring it, so I had an enforced stay in Merida. Desperate measures were needed, one paper back "Fever Pitch", pack of tablets, huge pile of food, so I did not have to leave my bed and booked into somewhere comfortable to lie down and sweat it out. I felt like Renton doing cold turkey in Trainspotting. It sort of worked or I shifted the worst of it.

To add insult to injury the non-stop bus to Merida stopped all the way through the night so I had no sleep and I got off to find somebody had gone through my bag. Nothing taken, so I guess it was one of the security check points. In their enthusiasm the ******* knocked open a bottle which emptied into my bag, fortunately most of it was soaked up by a blanket. Unfortunately they also managed to mangle my sketch book in the process.

This did not help my mood, but I thoroughly hated the Yucatan. The scenery was flat, overdeveloped, people unhelpful and full of vacuous American tourists. Its not like Mexico, its full of the trashier bits of the US. No smiles or friendly conversations, just give me your money (and a lot of it).

Went to Isla Mujeres, which on the face of it should have been idylic, a sandy palm treed island in the Caribbean,but I hated that also and I left early. Full of stupid young Americans getting wasted on a few beers. The level of ignorance is just astounding (Do you have democracy in England?). These are college students and they know little about their own country, let alone of the outside world.

I did the tourist thing visited the pyramids of Chichen Itza, where my camera decided it would rather be a paper weight. In annoyance I almost threw it down the hundred steps Id just climbed up. Out of the three main groups in the north Uxmal was probably the best and also the quietest. Tulum was a disappointment just a handful of small buildings by the sea, pretty location though.

Unexpectedly the best thing about Tulum was cave diving in flooded limestone cenotes. Superb. Often divers brag about the visibility, but this water was genuinely gin clear. In the opening cavern I could see clearly the fifty meters to the other side. It was so clear it looked like the divers were flying, you just could not see the water. We weaved through amazing rock formations, silver bubbles rippling across the roof of the tunnels. Rising in vast chambers to echoy voices. The flooded tunnels formed row upon row of stalactites and mites, looking spookily like the jaws of a subterranean demon. Where the roof had broken, blue lasers of light cut through the water creating some unbelievable effects. Id happily go back and spend a week just cave diving.

Tulum was also the first place I came to that was popular with travelers and met many old acquaintances, though its days are numbered as the march of commercialism in the Yucatan continues.